The Bikin River basin has a worldwide scientific and aesthetic
significance. It is the key area for preservation of a whole range
of ecosystems. It is here that the primary breeding grounds of the
Amur tiger are situated. As it is known at least 95% of Amur tigers
live in Russia and only a few individuals preserved in wild in
China.
Besides the tiger the Bikin Basin region is also a habitat of
other rare and endangered plant and animal species: hooded and
Japanese crane, scaly-sided merganser, fish owl, ginseng, Fori
rhododendron etc. In total, the IUCN Global Red List contains 2
plant and 16 animal species from this area, while the Red Data Book
of the Russian Federation contains 22 plant and 32 animal species
accordingly.
Upper and middle parts of Bikin Basin represent the last
remaining conglomerate of unique natural landscapes of the Central
Sikhote-Alin (primary mixed coniferous - deciduous forest). It have
never endured any significant human activity and, in fact, is the
only remaining large uninterrupted massif of the Ussuri taiga.
There are only two high conservation value areas in the world
that match the Bikin in size and are located in the same latitude;
the National 'Olympic' Park in the United States and 'Gross Morn',
in Canada, but these two areas preserve different sets of
ecosystems. There is no other place on the planet where such mixed
coniferous - deciduous forest can be found.
The main peculiarity of this area is the surprising co-existence
of southern and northern species of plants and animals, which is a
rare phenomenon in the world. For example, the Bikin River is full
of Siberian whitefish and Amur asp, lenok and taimen while it is
also possible to encounter tropical fish - mudfish and the rare
suppon. Here the unique Ayan spruce, that lives as long as 500
years, grows alongside the rare orchid, Japanese snakemouth.
Preservation of the Bikin taiga is especially important for
supporting the traditional way of life of the Udege people - a
small population of indigenous people in the Russian Federation.
The Udege people living in the Bikin area have shown their support
for the idea of establishing a specially protected natural area at
the federal level.
The idea to include the 'Verkhnebikinsky' Game Preserve and the
traditional nature management territory of 'Bikin' into the World
Heritage Site 'Central Sikhote-Alin' was among the topics for
discussion at the 25th Session of the UNESCO World Heritage
Committee in 2001. The Committee officially acknowledged that these
areas fully comply with the criteria set out for World Heritage
properties but existing protective regime can not secure its
safety.
Authors of
the letters apply to the authorities of the country: «We ask
you to use your authority and urgently create a federal protected
area for the Bikin Basin to ensure the preservation of one of the
very few remaining key habitats of the Amur tigers and of the
globally renowned unique nature therein".
For additional information please call: +7 (495) 988-74-60,
Andrey Petrov, Mikhail Kreindlin.
Greenpeace Russia has available video and photo materials
regarding the above issue.